Thirty-two persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the Ga Central Municipality have received various income-generating items and tools to support their work, unlock their talents and enhance their financial and economic independence.
This initiative falls under the three per cent allocation from the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for persons living with disabilities in order to support their education, health care and economic empowerment.
The beneficiaries made up of 14 males and 18 females across all the electoral areas in the municipality received items/tools which included deep freezers, barbering tools, cosmetics, detergents, provisions and water, phone repair tools, baking flour and sugar, gas cylinder, plastic stuffs, ladies’ underwear, as well as items to support cabbage trading and groundnut and maize businesses, among others.
The Ga Central Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Emmanuel Adotey Allotey, who handed over the items to the recipients at the forecourt of the assembly, said the assembly made it a priority to use the three per cent funds of the PWDs wisely and not for temporary relief, but for long-term impact for them to also gain their financial and economic independence.
“Through these tools/items, we hope to build your capacities to start, grow or sustain your business and by so doing achieve a measure of economic independence and dignity,” the MCE added.
He said disability was not inability and that every human being deserved a chance to live with dignity in order to contribute meaningfully to society and achieve their full potential.
Advice
Mr Allotey urged the beneficiaries to take good care of the items/tools they received by using them for the intended purposes, stressing: “Let your work speak for you, let your success inspire others in your communities who may still be struggling or feeling left out.”
He said the assembly had put measures in place to monitor their progress and offer technical support where needed, adding that the disbursement was not a one-time event but part of a broader agenda of building a more inclusive Ga Central, one where no one was left behind.
Mr Allotey, however, cautioned that any beneficiary or beneficiaries who would be found out to have sold the items/tools in the course of the assembly’s monitoring would be taken out completely from the scheme and would not benefit again from the assembly, adding: “I will advise you not to go there.”
The Ga Central Municipal Director for Social Welfare and Community Development, Lydia Apaalah, also stressed that the items/tools distributed were not gifts but tools to support the PWDs for their financial independence and urged them to be a good example for others who had not yet benefitted.
One of the beneficiaries, Linda Adu, thanked the assembly on behalf of her colleagues, saying what they had received served as their seed capitals and therefore entreated her colleagues to ensure they did not sell the items/tools but used them for their intended purposes.
